Going through my documents and deleting the discontinued ones. I came across this one that I started nearly a year ago for Chocolate X My Mouth. It's about my oc Riley Henderson, whom he is using in one of his stories. I wanted to give a little background about Riley and wasn't gonna publish this. I read through it and decided to finish it and publish it anyway just to see what kind of reaction this would get. If it is positive, I may write a second chapter. I left a cliffhanger deliberately... let me know what you think :)
Riley Henderson lay in his bedroom staring at the ceiling. It was spring break, and he had come home from school to visit his mother and step-father. His real father had left when he was 5 years old. That was 12 years ago... it was the past, now.
He suddenly heard a knock on his door.
"Come in," he muttered, already knowing who it was.
A redheaded teenage boy walked into the room, holding an envelope.
"Hey, Dante," Riley whispered, deciding not to sit up.
"Hello, Riley," supposed Dante replied, with a strong British accent. "how are you feeling?"
"Why should it matter to you?" Riley asked.
"Because I'm your brother-"
"Not by blood. You are my stepbrother, related to me because your father married my mother," Riley sighed deeply. "...and it was wrong, because... because I know he is still out there, somewhere. My father- I just know he is. And she gave up hope for him coming back. I.. I-"
Dante frowned slightly, feeling sympathy for his younger step-brother. He sat on the edge of the bed.
"Riley... everything will be okay in the end. You have to trust it will be. But for now, try to think of happy things. Like... studying?" Dante suggested, knowing how much Riley enjoys studying.
"Or how happy I will be when you get the hell out of my room?" Riley glared at Dante.
Dante stood, somewhat getting the message. He walked towards the door but faced Riley before leaving.
"Ri, just know that if you ever need anything, I'm here for you." he gave a knowing smile.
Riley, feeling tired and lazy, threw a pillow at Dante as he walked away.
He remained laying down until he eventually fell asleep.
"Father?"
"Riley-Taylor..."
"Father? Where are you going?"
"Riley-Taylor, I'm sorry."
"FATHER! Don't go! Please..."
"Riley..."
"Mum... Father is gone..."
Gone...
Gone...
Riley shot up in bed, damp from a cold sweat.
"Just... a dream...?" Riley held back tears.
He hugged a pillow and tried his hardest not to cry from the painful memory. After a few minutes, Riley forced himself out of bed. He looked into a mirror and hid all evidence of depression or a crying fit. He took a deep breath and headed out to the living room.
"Riley!" exclaimed a redheaded girl, who was sitting in a wheelchair in the living room. "you're finally awake!"
Riley laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess I am," he sat on the floor next to her wheelchair. "Whatcha doing?"
"I was writing a story. It's about superheroes and bad guys and stuff. Just boring things YOU wouldn't like." she answered.
Riley rolled his eyes. "Why, Annabelle? Because I'm more into martial arts and warriors than fictional superheroes?"
"You're a fictional superhero," she stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't think I don't hear you in your room at night, pretending you're an important hero."
The color drained from Riley's face. "You... you hear me?"
"Duhhhh..." Annabelle got back to writing.
Riley stood. "Where's James?"
"You ought to call him 'dad' by now, but he is in the front fixing the car that YOU crashed." Annabelle then completely blocked Riley out of her mind.
Riley deeply sighed as he walked outside.
He stood in the doorway watching his redhead (lol no surprise) step-father working on a car. He seemed rather frustrated.
"Need help?" Riley offered.
His step-father jumped slightly, not realizing Riley was watching.
"No. You have done enough."
"But don't you think I should be responsible for the damage I caused?" Riley was now standing next to the man.
James (da step fatherrrr) sighed heavily. "Fine. YOU try to fix it." he sat aside and watched as Riley began working on replacing the tires, or filling them with air if needed.
"Riley-Taylor..?"
"Please, just Riley. I don't go by Riley-Taylor anymore."
"Alright then. Riley, your mother told me that today is a hard day for you... but she never told me why. Why is that?" James asked, not realizing the personal subject he had touched in on was not something Riley typically talked about.
"I... don't wanna talk about it," Riley muttered, finishing the first tire.
"Why not? Keeping your problems inside will only make it worse."
"I don't keep them inside. I have a social life, you know." Riley snapped, beginning on the second tire.
James was silent for a moment, "well-" he fell silent again.
Riley blew his hair out of his face as he began to replace the tire.
"Riley-Taylor..."
"I said don't call me that." Riley snapped again.
"I don't care. Riley-Taylor, even if you do have a social life... I know you wouldn't dare tell them."
"Fine!- today marks exactly 12 years since my father left," Riley stated in a low whisper.
"Oh..."
Riley dropped the car tire he was holding and sat on the curb, swallowing his tears.
"Riley-Tay..- I mean Riley... I'm really sorry." James sat next to him.
"Mhm. Of course, you are. You have to be because you're supposed to replace him... and b-be a fi-figure..." Riley trembled as he held in his tears.
"Riley, don't cry... it'll be okay,"
"Why does everyone say that!? They always say it's gonna be okay even though it's not!" Riley crossed his arms and turned away from James.
"Well," James sighed deeply, "I think the reason people say things like that is because it is easy for them to say things when they aren't going through them personally."
Riley didn't respond. He took a deep breath, now crying.
"Riley, I-"
"Shut up..." Riley faced James again and hugged him. James was slightly surprised by this, but hugged back.
"Mmm... I'm not gonna say you'll be okay, but it isn't the end of the world, either."
"Shut up," Riley repeated.
"ok."
The two sat on the curb for a few hours, just treasuring the presence of each other.
Later...;
Dear... whoever this letter ends up in the hands of,
There is a lot that you should know about me. I'm 16 years old, I'm a brunette, I live with my mother and stepfather and stepsiblings, I study martial arts and LOVE samurai, I attend Ninjago High School, and... I have a lot of secrets. I'm a mystery to most, but I wanted to-
Riley crumbled up the letter and tossed it in his waste bin. No... no one needed to see that. No, he didn't need to share his feelings. No, he didn't want his secrets to be out there. So why would he even bother? He got most of it off his chest when he talked to James. So he really didn't have a need for the letter.
"Riley...? I brought you dinner..." whispered a soft voice outside his door.
"Oh uh," he quickly put on a shirt and toweled his hair dry and opened the door; he had just taken a shower after fixing the car, "Yeah, uh... thanks."
"Are you oka-" Annabelle cut off at the sight of her brother only wearing a tee-shirt and boxers.
"Give me that, thank you." He took the plate and closed the door. He gently placed the plate on his bed and went back to the desk. He took a deep breath.
"If you're out there, dad... please give me a sign." He turned off his desklamp and went to his bed.